Tego Calderón

About

Tego Calderón was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1972. He grew up in Río Grande and Carolina, areas of Puerto Rico that maintain some of the strongest Afro-Caribbean influences on the island. Throughout his childhood Calderón was exposed by his parents to the groundbreaking music of salsa legend Ismael Rivera, as well as to Latin jazz.“I grew up and identified myself with Ismael Rivera’s distinctive style and soon I was old enough to understand what course I wanted to follow in music.” Determined to take his place in the music world, Tego explored a diversity of musical influences, transforming himself into an accomplished musician as well as vocalist. He attended the Escuela Libre de Música of Puerto Rico, where he concentrated on percussion studies, while also mastering composition and lyrics. In the late-1980’s,Tego moved to Miami, where he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School. It was there that Calderón began to soak up the influences of American hip-hop. Hearing the California gangsta rap troupe N.W.A. proved pivotal. “It really caught my attention, it was something that I related to, and I decided I wanted to be a rapper,” Calderón said. Moving back to Puert…